§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to encourage his counterparts to increase transparency and openness in the European Union; what proposals have been put forward to increase access to papers and deliberations of the Council of Ministers; what mechanisms exist for the public to find out what documents are discussed in(a) council meetings and (b) Coreper; and if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's position on the report by Michael Cashman MEP on transparency in EU institutions. [140551]
§ Mr. VazA new Regulation on public access to Council, Commission and European Parliament documents is currently being negotiated, and is due to be adopted by May 2001. The Government are pushing for the easiest possible access to the widest range of documents. The report by Michael Cashman MEP set out the European Parliament's proposed amendments to the Commission's proposal. The UK can support many of these. Council documents are listed on a public register which is available on the internet at www.ue.eu.int.